Apparatus for connecting storage batteries with charging-lines.



No. 668,76l. Patented Feb. 26, 19m. :4. H. sunm,

APPARATUS FOICUNNECTING STORAGE BATTERIES WITH CHARGING LINES.

(Applicsfioa flhd June 20, 1899.)

(In Iodol.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

NATHAN H. SUREN, OF NEEDHAM, MASSACHUSETTS.

APPARATUS FOR CONNECTING STORAGE BATTERIES WITH CHARGING-LINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 668,761, dated February2 1901.

Application filed June 29,1899.

To a whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, NATHAN H. SUREN, of Needham, county of Norfolk, andState of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Apparatus forConnecting Storage Batteries with a Charging-Line, of which thefollowing description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is aspecification,like characters on the drawing representing like parts.

At the present time it is customary in many places to use storagebatteries for fire-alarm and police signal systems, and such storagebatteries are charged at the proper time by a current from a suitablecharging-line. It is also customary to purchase the charging-current,which is measured as it is delivered, and consequently it is importantto economize the charging-current to the utmost.

This invention has for its object to provide means whereby the storagebatteries may be connected with the charging-circuit in different waysin order to match the electric motive force of the batteries to theelectric motive force of the charging-current, which results inecomizing the amount of current used in charging the storage batteries.

The invention consists in a charging-circuit, a number of storagebatteries, and a number of switches for connecting the terminals of thestorage batteries with said charging-circuit, said switches beingconstructed and arranged to be operated to connect said storagebatteries in several different ways with the charging-circuit-as, forinstance, they may be connected in series or in multiple series or inparallel with said chargingcircuit; and the invention also consists in acharging-circuit, a number of storage batteries, and means forconnecting them all simultaneously with said charging-circuit, and anumber of switches for changing the electric connections of said storagebatteries with said charging-circuit independent of the means employedfor connecting them therewith, whereby they may be connected in seriesor multiple series or in parallel, as desired, and thereafter changed atwill.

The drawing shows in diagram a portion of a charging-circuit, a numberof storage batteries, and means embodying this invention for connectingsaid storage batteries with the Serial No. 722,287. (No model.)

charging-circuit in series, or in multiple series, or in parallel,according to the will of the operator.

at I) represent a pair of switch-arms of an ordinary double-poleknife-switch, which are pivoted to posts a b and which are connectedtogether by an insulating bridge or cross piece having attached to it ahandpiece, by means of which the knife-switch is operated. a 19represent a pair of posts having split ends which are engaged by saidswitch-arms when the switch is closed.

0 represents an electromagnet the coils of which are adapted to beincluded in the charging-circuit when the knife-switch is closed, andthe armature c of said electromagnet is secured to apivoted plate 0 tothe front edge of which is secured two metallic strips 0 0 When thearmature c is retracted, as represented in the drawing, the metallicstrips 0' 0 will engage contact-springs c 0 which are connected togetherby a wire 4, which may and preferably will include a suitable resistance5. The wire 4:, connected to the terminal springs 0 c constitutes aloop-circuit.

A wire 2 connects the post a with the coils of the electromagnet c, anda wire 8 leads from the coils of said electromagnet to the metallicstrip 0 and said strip being in engagement with the contact-spring c thecircuit will con tinue by loop-circuit 4 to contact-spring c and saidcontact-spring 0 being in engagement with the metallic strip 0 thecircuit will continue by wire 6, which is connected to the post 17 Thusit will be seen that when the knife-switch is closed the electromagnet 0will be connected with the charging-circuit and will be energized; butas its armature is at once attracted the metallic strips 0 0 willdisengage the contact-springs c c".

A number of contact-springs are provided which are adapted to be engagedby the metallic strips 0 0 when the armature is in its attractedposition, said contact-springs rep resenting the storage-batteryterminals, and herein four storage batteries are shown, and consequentlythere will be eight battery-terminals, and for simplicity they aredisposed in two groups, four in each group, at each side of theelectromagnet c, and one of the groups of battery-terminals, as e e 8 awill be so disposed relative to each other that all of them will beengaged by the metallic strip 0 when the armature is attracted, and theother group of battery-terminals, as ff will be so disposed relative toeach other that all of them will be engaged by the metallic strip 0 whenthe armature is attracted.

A B C D represent tour storage batteries which are connected bycircuit-wires with the said battery-terminals, and suitable switches areprovided for connecting them with said battery-terminals in differentways, so that when the armature is attracted all of thebattery-tern1inals will be simultaneously connected with thecharging-circuit. The batteries thus connected may be arranged inseries, or in multiple series, or in parallel with the charging-circuit,as desired.

To determine or control the arrangement of the batteries with thechargingcircuit three compound or two-armed switches will be provided,each consisting of a pair of pivoted arms connected together by aninsulating cross-piece having a knob or handpiece by which the switchmay be operated. The three switches may thus be operated independentlyof each other and also independent of the means employed for connectingall the storage batteries with the chargingcircuit.

g g represent the two arms of one of the switches. 76 7t represent thetwo arms of an other switch, and t' t" represent the two arms of thethird switch. The arm 9 is pivoted at g and engages one or the othercontact g or g". The arm g is pivoted at g and engages one or the othercontact g or g The arm h is pivoted at h and engages one or the othercontact 7L3 or 7%. The arm 7t is pivoted at 72/ and engages one or theother contact h or 7L7. The arm 2' is pivoted at 2' and engages one orthe other contact 2' or i The arm 2" is pivoted at and engages one orthe other contact 2' or 2' The battery-terminal f is connected with oneside of the battery A by wire '7, the battery-terminal f is connected bywire 8 with the contact 9 the battery-terminal f is connected by wire 9with the contact 7L7, and the battery-terminal f is connected by wire 10with the contact 2' The battery-terminal e is connected by wire 12 withthe contact g the battery-terminal e is connected by wire 13 with thecontact 72 the battery-tern'iinal e is connected by wire 14 with thecontact t and the battery-terminal e is connected by wire 15 with oneside of the storage battery D. A wire 16 connects the contact 9 with thecontact g a wire 17 connects the contact 71 with the contact its, a wire18 connects the contact i with the contact i and a wire 19 connects theother side of the battery A with the pivotpost The wire 20 connects oneside of the battery B with the pivot-post 72,2, and wire 21 connects theother side of said battery 13 with the pivot-post g A wire 22 connectsone side of the battery 0 with the pivot-post 2', and the wire 23connects the other side of said battery 0 with the pivot-post its, and awire 2% connects the other side of the battery D with the pivot-postWhen all of the switches are thrown to the left, as represented in thedrawing, the four batteries will be arranged in series and the circuitcan be traced as follows: chargingwire, switch-arm a, post a wire 2,electromagnet c,wi re 3, metallic strip 0 and battery terminals 6 to aall of which are connected with an open wire except 6 (when the switchesare in the position referred to,) and from c the circuit continues bywire 15, battery D, wire 24, pivot-post 21, wire 18, contact-pin 2' arm11, pivot-post 0 wire 22, battery C, wire 23, post 7L5, wire 17, arm h,pivotpost 7L2, wire 20, batteryB, wire 26, post p, wire 16, arm g, postwire 19, battery A, wire 7, battery-terminal f, metallic strip 0, wire6, post 13 arm and the other charging-wire. Thus it will be seen thatall of the batteries are connected in series with the charging circuit.If, however, all of the switches should be thrown to the right, then allof said batteries will be connected in parallel with thecharging-circuit, and in such event all of the battery-terminals will beutilized. Furthermore,ifanyone ofsaidswitches should be thrown to theright, the battery controlled by said switch will be connected in serieswith the battery next to it,and so on. Thus it will be understood thatseveral different arrangements of the batteries may be made, accordingto the requirements of the case.

lVhile I have herein shown four storage batteries and three pairs ofswitchesfl desire it to be understood that any other 11 u 111 oerofstorage batteries maybe employed and the number of switches willnecessarily in all instances be one pair less than the number of storagebatteries employed.

Referring to the connection of the batteryterminals it will be observedin tracing the circuits that it. is always in accordance with a certainmethod, which maybe stated as follows: The positive terminal of thefirst battery A is always directly or immediately connected to itscorresponding contact-springs f and the negative terminal of the lastbattery D is directly connected to its corresponding contact-spring e.The negative terminal of the battery A is connected to the pivot-post ofthe first switch-arm and the positive terminal of the following batteryis connected to the pivot-post of its mate, and so on until all theswitches and battery-terminals are connected. The contact g is alwaysconnected to the pivot-post of its mate, and so 011 with all of theother switches. The contact g of the first pair of switches is connecteddirectly to the contact-spring e, which is the negative contact, and soon with all of the otherswitches. The contact 9 0E the first pair ofswitches is connected directly to the second contact-spring f, and so onwith all of the other switches.

I claim- 1. A number of storage batteries, a charg- ICO ing-circuit, andmeans for connecting said batteries with said charging-circuitconsisting of a terminal connected by a wire with one pole of one of thebatteries, another terminal connected by a wire with the opposite poleof another battery, switch-arms respectively connected by wires with theother poles of said.batteries and with the poles of the other batteriesand arranged in pairs, contacts for said switch-arms, a wire connectingone of thesWitch-arms of each pair with one of the contacts of the otherswitch-arm of said pair, a wire leading from one of the contacts of eachswitch-arm to a corresponding number of terminals, and a switch forconnecting all of said terminals with the charging-circuit,substantially as described.

2. A number of storage batteries, a charging-circuit, and means forconnecting said batteries with said charging-circuit consisting of aterminal connected by a wire with one pole of one of the batteries,another terminal connected by a wire with the opposite pole of anotherbattery, switch-arms respectively connected by wires with the otherpoles of said batteries and with the poles of the other batteries andarranged in pairs, contacts for said switch-arms, a wire connecting oneof the switch-arms of each pair with one of the contacts of the otherswitch-arm of said pair, a wire leading from one of the contacts of eachswitch-arm to a corresponding number of terminals, means for operatingeach pair of switch-arms independently, and a switch for connecting allof said terminals with the charging-circuit, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

NATHAN H. SUREN.

Witnesses:

B. J. NoYEs, J ENNIE L. HUTOHINSON.

